A lo largo de los años, generamos vínculos sentimentales con lugares y cosas. Aunque no representen permanencia, como seres humanos solemos asociar memorias con lugares, por que es en donde nuestros sentimientos se tornan tangibles.  Considere este parque como ´´lugar´´ por que es lo que me viene a la memoria cuando pienso en infancia, infancia para mi representa, aprendizaje, crecimiento, niñez, y, sobre todo, diversión. Con el paso del tiempo olvidamos lo importante que esta última, lo importante que es reír, disfrutar, compartir. Que, a final de cuentas, es lo que nos hace sentir vivos, que estamos aquí. En ese lugar tengo recuerdos en los que solía compartir mi tiempo con los vecinos, por que representaba para nosotros un punto de encuentro, de convivencia, de compartir e interactuar unos con los otros.

My home has a sacred ground in my heart. It is a place where I can be my weirdest and the most authentic self. A place that will be right there waiting for me when I come back. A place where the stress of life melts away evoking a sigh of relief within and reminds me of the countless memories and values that shaped me as I walk through. Home means that no matter how challenging life gets, there will be someone looking out for me.

It’s the warm bed that I can’t get out of in the morning, the inviting aroma of tea brewing in the kitchen, the taste of mom’s breakfast while I am still tousle-haired and sleepy and the endless conversations at the dining table. It's the distinctive sound of the gravel as dad rolls down the car into the driveway, the wonderful sight of my grandparents talking their morning stroll, the ever-growing collection of books to be read on that shelf.

There’s no place on earth I’d rather be!

Experience with the place

That day was superb, the Sun was radiant and the water of that small beach moved slowly, the peace of that place could almost be touched.
Behind me, the love of my life at that moment was waiting, hugging me while I took the picture. I have never felt as loved as that time.

The road continues, and I can't stop. Halfway there, some small clouds alert me that obstacles will appear, and it is impossible for me to spend a few seconds contemplating the sobriety of the frozen mountains in the background, I think of the hardness of being there but I am able to feel the solitude of those mountains .

Today, right now, I am at the top of one of those mountains and I allow myself the luxury of looking back to remember that day, when I was being hugged by her.
I look around, I know, I'm alone, she left years ago.
Now I look under my feet: 'I am very high!'
It has taken me so long to get here, I have had to overcome many obstacles, but I have succeeded.

I feel happy to have reached the top of the mountain, I feel strong and proud of myself. It is time to look ahead, I remember that I cannot stop on this vital path, but as I go down the mountain I can see in the distance a small beach.. I don't know what I will find there, not even when I will arrive, maybe someone will hug me again like her that day, maybe that will never happen again.

But I don't care what will happen, now I understand the life is just an ordered set of moments, and I am going to live all of them, because they are so fleeting ...

Brief explanation of the text

The contrast of the beauty of a small beach with the sobriety of the frozen mountains in the background is not just a combination that evokes peace, love and inspiration ... this image represents the road of life.

Life is made up of good and not so good moments, this image represents for me the contrast between those very different moments, it reminds me that we have to live them all because life never stops and that in the brevity of those moments there is always a lesson that we can learn.

When COVID hit, I had to move from where I lived since I couldn't afford rent anymore, so after staying at this new place I needed to discover the new area, the small Mediterranean in me was always looking for a raise of sunlight in something that would remind me of home, in this ghostlike town that the area became due to the pandemic and there it was! Warm, colorful and orange!

Winner of the first prize of the A-Place Mapping contest "Share your experience of places" 2021

Are great things necessary to love?
Sometimes the smallest things are not enough to light the fire of love in your heart?
Proof that we shouldn't expect big things for love.  Seeing her sunbathing in her corner every morning when I wake up makes it more meaningful to wake up every morning.  You can't even imagine how full of love this tiny creature is.  The little thing that shines with love in my house of concrete that surrounds me.  I say small because it's really small.  With this little one, he taught me that in order to love, one should not have expectations.  We must love to love by accepting all our differences, our diversity, we must bring out love from a tiny glimmer without expecting big things because this world needs love.